The father of Australian life coach Justine Damond Ruszczyk has given an emotional explanation as to why his family is seeking more than $US50million ($67m) in a US civil lawsuit for the fatal police shooting of his daughter in Minneapolis.
The lawsuit names former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, who fired the fatal bullet into Damond's stomach, his partner Officer Matthew Harrity, the city of Minneapolis and the former and current chief of the city's police department.
"Justine died in her pyjamas trying to help someone else," Ruszczyk, from Sydney, said in a statement on Monday after the lawsuit was filed in the US federal court in Minneapolis. "We cannot let her death be in vain."
The family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond have filed a US$50m lawsuit over her death in Minneapolis. (AAP) Source: AAP
Damond Ruszczyk, 40, was dressed in her pyjamas just before midnight on July 15 last year at her Minneapolis home when she called police after hearing what she feared was a woman being raped.
When she approached the police vehicle in an alley behind her home Noor, in the passenger seat, allegedly shot across his partner Officer Harrity and out the window, fatally striking Ms Damond in the stomach.
Damond was set to marry her American fiance Don Damond in Hawaii the following month and was hoping to start a family.
"The damages for the violation of Justine's most important civil right, the right to life, are immense," Ruszczyk wrote.
"They include the unimaginable suffering she endured from the time the bullet struck her until she died, the loss of her upcoming marriage to her soulmate, Don, the loss of parenthood - something she dearly wanted - the loss of work and play, the loss of special relationships with her friends and family, the loss of economic opportunity, and the loss of the satisfaction of helping others find their way and their peace in this world; something for which she had a unique gift."
Police officer Mohamed Noor. Source: City of Minneapolis
Ruszczyk said the lawsuit, if successful, was designed to "send an unmistakable message to these officers and the City of Minneapolis and its Police Department that such conduct is wrong, and will no longer be tolerated".
The lawsuit alleges the Minneapolis police department's problems are systemic.
"Our only real tool is a verdict that is too large to ignore or forget," he said.
"We want the Minneapolis police culture to be reformed in such a way and to the extent necessary to stop such senseless acts from happening again and again."
Noor, who is no longer a police officer, also faces criminal charges that could send him to jail if convicted.
He has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
John Ruszczyk (left), the father of Justine Damond Ruszczyk, with his wife Marian Hefferen. Source: AAP
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